I'm about to pull the trigger and buy a trainer for the coming winter months. I've narrowed my choices down to the Cycleops Fluid 2 or the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine.

They both seem like good trainers. And it looks like I can't go wrong with either.

Here's my question.

I can get the Cycleops Fluid 2 for $260.09 on Performance Bike with their 15% off sale.

Next week (October 7th) REI will be having their 20% off one item sale. so I can get the KK for $271.20.

Both of these prices seem pretty good overall. Is it worth holding out for the KK or would the Cycleops be just as good?

You'll get a lot of recommendations for the Kinetic. That's the one I chose last year. The advantage to the Kinetic is the sealed resistance unit that will not leak.

The Kinetic's design looks cool... a virtual connection to the blades in the fluid. I need to get another while I send my leaking Cyclecops back.

Go REI with the KK. REI's customer service and return policy is stellar. They'll take back stuff that didn't work for you a whole year after you bought it with the receipt, give you straight up replacements if stuff from the manufacturer fails (unlike many places which will ask you to wait for the manufacturer to ship a separate replacement) and they go out of their way to make it a no-hassle experience to get you to come back.

I normally don't praise retail chains, but REI has been outstanding all the way for over 5 years for me. They even redeem gift cards with CASH, no questions asked, and no purchase necessary. That alone shows their customer commitment - they were the only company out of 7-8 that did that for me after a wedding where I got a bunch of gift cards. I wasn't even expecting it - I was buying a measly pair of socks to hopefully get cashback on the remaining balance, and the clerk looked at me with an aside look and just said, "you know, I can just give you cash for this card no problem - no purchase necesary." Good stuff.

Thanks for the responses! I've had very good luck with REI so I'll most likely go with the KK unit then. That price is hard to beat. I know the Fluid 2 is probably more popular since the unit is cheaper in general.

I know you can upgrade the KK to the larger flywheel. Is there anything similar with the Cycleops unit?

You don''t need the upgraded flywheel. Just get the standard KK or Cycleops2. There are published speed (if you mount a rear wheel computer speedo) to power conversion charts for the standard ones to get a good estimate of your power output.